#because I'm a fan of Queen

[gottagobackintime]

Music (and movies) and queerness in Ted Lasso. Particularly in relation to Ted (and Trent)

I want to start with a line from the show that contains the word music.

“If music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it.” Said by Mae to Ted in a scene where a few moments later Trent walks up to him after leaving his date to go talk to him. It’s a quote from the VERY queer Shakespeare play “Twelfth Night”. The line implies that the speaker wants to be fed more, to the point of it making them sick so that they won’t desire, love in this case, anymore. Because he’s unhappily in love with someone who he can’t have (Michelle?). BUT he falls in love with someone else later. And in the context of Ted Lasso, this line just so happens to be said right before they show us that Trent is there. Ted also answers Mae, not by asking if she’s asking him if he wants more but “If that’s your fancy way of asking if I want another one, you guessed right”.Another love?And according to James Lance, it was when he was on his way to film this scene that he found out that Trent is gay and that he is “with that guy” as he himself puts it. A man who has a moustache very similar to Ted’s and wears similar clothes.

(Also, this happens in season 2 episode 7. In season 3, episode 7 Ted talks about the red string/thread of fate myth while Trent wears a red bracelet and they are connected by red several times and season 3, episodes 7 and 11 are connected via “You’ve got Mail”, the opening scene in episode 7 being a “tribute” to the movie, and there are other smaller references. And the team, and Trent, watching the movie in episode 11. AndTrent also wears the bracelet in episode 11, an episode I’ll bring up later in this post).

Now, let us get to the music.

Bruce Springsteen If you google “Bruce Springsteen queer” you get a lot of results discussing queerness in his songs and so on, so to put him in this post is a must.

Bruce Springsteen is brought up by Dottie in season 3 episode 11. She tells Trent about the time Ted got onstage and danced with Bruce Springsteen (which turns out to be a lie) but the connection to Springsteen is still there, because Ted did get onstage with a Bruce Springsteen cover band and sang with them. So, we’ve established a connection between Ted (and Trent) and Bruce Springsteen.

Let’s connect it to something else that happened in the episode. They watch “You’ve Got Mail” starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan (I’ll come back to “You’ve Got Mail” later, the important part here is Tom Hanks). Ted states that the superior Nora Ephron/Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie is “Sleepless in Seattle”,a movie about a reporter falling for a single dad simply because of the way he talks about things and what he talks about. He brings the movie up twice, once to say that it’s superior and once telling someone to watch it. Now what does “Sleepless in Seattle” have to do with Bruce Springsteen? “Sleepless in Seattle” came out in 1993, as did “Philadelphia” a movie about a gay man played by Tom Hanks. Springsteen made a song called “Streets of Philadelphia”, specifically for this movie. A bit farfetched? Eh, perhaps, but I’m including it anyway.

So, in this episode Trent, a gay man, is told by Ted’s mum that Ted once went onstage with Bruce Springsteen and that’s the story he needs to confirm straight away. He practically skips towards Ted’s office to ask about it. Why that story? Surely she told him about other things too. And he heard the stories she told the team. But this was the story he was excited to get confirmed. A story about Ted’s connection to an artist that has several queer connections and who can also be connected to something else that is brought up in the episode.

Queen Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Their lead singer was queer.

And I talked about Fat Bottomed Girls and Queen/Freddie/Brian in THIS post. And I talk a little bit about the connection between Ted and Freddie Mercury in THIS post.

Queen has been used a lot throughout “Ted Lasso”, a lot more than I remembered. When I went back to look at the soundtrack for season 1 and 2, I found quite a few Queen songs. I also discovered that two of the trailers for season 2 had Queen songs in the background. “Under Pressure” (which also features David Bowie, another queer artist) and “We Will Rock You”.

Ted talks about having watched Queen at Live Aid on TV when he was younger, in season 2, episode 8 (that episode is called “Man City”, Ted mentions both Queen and Freddie Mercury. Season 3 episode 11 is called “Mom City” and Freddie Mercury is brought up again and a Queen song plays.) “Tear It Up” plays in season 2, episode 2 “We Are the Champions” plays in season 2, episode 9 “Fat Bottomed Girls” are both mentioned and played in season 3, episode 11 And, while not a Queen song, “Fought & Lost” by Sam Ryder featuring Brian May is also played in season 3, episode 11.

But let’s focus on “Fat Bottomed Girls”. Now, I’ve already talked about it in THIS post, that I also linked above. So, I won’t go over all that again. But a little recap, “Fat Bottomed Girls” is linked to “Bicycle Race” which is sometimes seen as a metaphor for being bi. They were both on the same single and they reference each other. The song is brought up by Higgins when he tells Keeley and Rebecca that Freddie, when he briefly owned Richmond in 1980, tried to make that song Richmond’s song but that it didn’t work. Rebecca then brings up that her dad went to art school with Freddie and that according to him if you would have asked Freddie what his greatest talent was, he would have said “flipping straights”.

We’ve already established Ted’s connection to Queen. And we’ve heard Ted refer to himself as straight just a few episodes ago (episode 7, and I’ve already pointed out the connection between episodes 7 and 11, this is another connection) now we get to hear Rebecca say that Freddie Mercury’s biggest talent was “flipping straights”. Ted is, as far as I know, and I’ve checked, the only person who refers to himself as straight, in the whole show. Not a single other character does that. Once in the Christmas special, once in season 3, episode 7, that’s two times. Will the rule of three apply here? Will he say that he’s straight a third time or will he subvert expectations or if you will, flip the script and say that he’s something else?

Dolly Parton Trent has worn a Dolly Parton shirt twice. Dolly Parton is a queer icon. In season 3, episode 11 Beard feels the need to call dibs on Dolly’s part in “Islands in the Stream” at karaoke. Implying that Ted perhaps snags that part for himself a lot of the time. Ted then walks away singing “Islands in the Stream”. Yet another queer connection between Trent and Ted via music.

Harry Nilsson/ (Judy Garland) Back to “You’ve got Mail”. The last scene of “You’ve got mail” ends with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan meeting up and they kiss while Harry Nilsson’s cover of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” plays in the background. We’re shown that scene, not just by witnessing the characters watching it, but by it filling our own screen for a while. “Somewhere over the Rainbow” is of course from “The Wizard of Oz” originally, sung by Judy Garland. A queer icon. The connection to “The Wizard of Oz” and Ted Lasso has been brought up before. But in this episode, it’s very front and centre. Ted is standing at “The Wizard of Oz” pinball machine, staring at the spinning house. And of course, Ted’s connection to Kansas is always there. And it’s brought up in a very important way this episode, with his mother more or less telling him he should go home to Kansas.

So, we have a well-established connection between Ted and Kansas and “The Wizard of Oz”. Let’s talk more about Judy Garland, Dorothy, the original singer of “Somewhere over the Rainbow”. As I mentioned above, Judy Garland was and is a queer icon. And “The Wizard of Oz” was and is a big part of the queer community. Then we have the “Friend of Dorothy” euphemism, a way to recognise other queer people, and it’s strongly associated with Judy Garland’s Dorothy. In episode 11 we are introduced to Ted’s mother, Dottie, which is a nickname/shortening of Dorothy. Another very clear queer connection to Ted.

And let us also look at James Lance who has said that there is a story arc for Trent’s shirts. And he wore a t-shirt with Dorothy’s ruby slippers to an event that is connected to Ted Lasso. And when asked why he was wearing that shirt, why he chose to honour Dorothy. It feels like he’s deflecting when he says “Well, every good character’s got to have a good pair of shoes, right. And these are surely, surely,the best pair of shoes in showbiz. So, you know, they get their own t-shirt. There aren’t many shoes to do that.” That’s suspicious. And we now know that James has had a lot of input into Trent’s costume, with him suggesting things and getting a thumbs up a lot of the time. He clearly thinks that clothes are important and can send a message. And he chose to wear a Dorothy shirt to a red carpet. When we now know that the eleventh episode of season three had several heavy references to “The Wizard of Oz”.

And to go back to Harry Nilsson. A song sung by him was on the soundtrack for Midnight Cowboy, starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, a queer movie. (And let’s remember that Trent himself said that Dustin Hoffman would probably play him in a movie).

Honourable mention

Mumford & Sons/Marcus Mumford

Why would I add Mumford & Sons and Marcus Mumford? Because Marcus Mumford made the theme song to Ted Lasso and the instrumental songs for the soundtrack, they’ve also used both Mumford & Sons and Marcus Mumford songs in the show. And the band have a connection to Jason Sudeikis. He was in the official music video for Mumford & Sons’ song “Hopeless Wanderer”, inthat video he clearly plays a version of Marcus, and he kisses another man in it. I think that deserves an honourable mention.

So, to sum it all up, there is queer subtext in the music and the artists that they mention and play in Ted Lasso, and these are just the ones that I personally can connect to Ted (and Ted/Trent). I don’t know if it is a coincidence, but I feel like there is way too much to just be a coincidence. To borrow part of Trent’s line “Through thousands of imperceptible moments, all leading to their inevitable conclusion.” Number four, that doesn’t even matter (but it actually does), LOVE. Queer love.

[chipped-chimera]

Shrimp Inspector 🦐👀

[luthordamnvers]

“Kara is idealistic, yes. You are realistic. That doesn’t mean you are different.” Kelly paused, then, “I have not seen anyone as connected as you two.” “That’s not true,” Lena disrupted her speech. “She’s like the sun, and I’m m–" “If you say moon, I’m going to smack you so hard sparks are going to explode everywhere.” Kelly threatened in jest. 

(x)

For @itsalliebitheway as a belated present, for our mutual love for blondie's lyrics and supercorp.

[presiding]

they're more than statues.

billie & delilah by @punkcats. commissioned for the contract

[anaugust]

Small bubbline doodle.

[adm-starblitzsteel-4305]

BEHOLD!!!

𝕄𝕆𝕋ℍℝ𝔸 ℝ𝔼𝔹𝕆ℝℕ!!!

MY VERY OWN TAKE OF MV HUMAN!MOTHRA REBORN ON GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE!!!

Yes, I redesigned her version into GxK and the results were indeed phenomenal unlike my KOTM style! Definitely one of my hardest challenges to do such an exquisite art!

And I added an extra design of her waist! Since she is worshipped also by the Iwis, I wanted to add a red linen cloth like Jia to further emphasize that she protected the Iwis.

From now on, this would be my official design for Mothra Reborn on GxK. I hope you absolutely love it!

( @sassyassblog @mossizi This is for both of you as a surprise! ) 🤩🥰

AND!!!

Here's the original design of my first MV Mothra Gijinka in KOTM.

I WORKED, 5 HOURS!!! ALL I WANT IS TO FINISH MY UNFINISHED ART BUT WHY FUCKING WHY?!?!?! I'M ALMOST STARVING AND GOT MY HAND HURT!!!!!

*ANYONE WHO POSTED MY ART WITHOUT PERMISSION SHALL RECEIVE WARNINGS, FLAMES AND VALID REASONS*

[agendercryptidlev]

Marius de Romanus?

STUPID IDIOT MOTHERFUCKING MARIUS DE ROMANUS GOD DAMN FOOL PAINTING MAKING DUST EATING RAT OLD BASTARD SHITHEAD IDIOT FLEDGELING OF THE WHORE BIGGEST CLOWN IN THE CIRCUS LAUGHED OUT OF TOWN COWBOY MOTHERFUCKING MARIUS DE ROMANUS

STOP PINNING ME WHEN I TALK ABOUT MARIUS DE ROMANUS I HATE HIM SO MUCH WHY DOES HE HAVE SO MANY FUCKED UP PAINTINGS WHY DID HE DECIDE TO FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT JUST SET THEM LOOSE IS HE DEAD IS HE A BASTARD MAN HAS SUCH A VISCERAL AFFECT ON ME NOT EVEN IN THE ROOM NEVER SEEN THIS MANS FACE AND I KNOW HE HAS THE WORLDS SHITTIEST HAIR CUT GET AWAY FROM ME

if i wanted to get into heaven and god said marius de romanus' waiting inside i would piss on gods feet for the sole purpose of getting sent back down

if i have to deal with marius de romanus speaking one word in person on voice in on TV show not only will i close the tab i will delete my bookmark out of spite and have to rewatch the entire series again for the experience of being able to skip all the times when he is mentioned or alive

i dont even know why i hate him so much. he paints paintings but i am just mad because i am angy

he better have some fucked up backstory to explain this if hes just some rich shithead whos a fan of lolita and wanted the irl version ill go ham

BETTER have had a painting make him kill a man cuz if he didnt Im going to make him

paypal.com/IFuckingHateMariusdeRomanus

episodes not even about him. vaguely mentioned what is supposed to maybe be his painting and I lost it

where the fuck is marius de romanus if hes still alive im going to so deeply wish he wasnt

crusty old man

ill punch romanus and his sad frail old man twig bones will simply flake apart under my epic huge meat fist and he will disintegrate until all thats left is one final painting he kept on him at all times simply titled Now You Fucked Up in ancient yiddish

im not breathing im hyperventilating at this point

i hope theres a date given for when marius died or will die so i can make it a reminder on my phone

everyday once a year i will see it and do anything but pay respects to the man who had so many fucked up if true paintings

[littlefankingdom]

A crack headcanon I have is that Damian listens to J-Pop.

Just imagine the Batmobile speeding through the streets, windows down, blasting Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's music, as Robin (who neither has a licence or his father's authorization to be driving the car) is behind the wheel.

His love for J-Pop does include Vocaloid, which Tim also listens too, but neither knew about their shared interest until, one day, Damian walks in the cave on Tim humming a Miku's song to himself, while working on the batcomputer.

"Drake, are you also an admirer of her highness Hatsune Miku?"

[laurapetrie]

THE PATTIE BOYD PLAYLIST and other assorted love songs

[navree]

there has GOT to be a way to explain anne boleyn's proto-feminism and importance to history without absolutely shitting on katherine of aragon and acting as if she was basically set dressing for her entire marriage rather than a person in her own right and an important one at that, but i think a lot of stanne's are just virulently misogynistic so they're physically incapable of doing so

[shamelesstragedyenjoyer]

I'd love to read more canon accurate fics regarding both Duke and Damian's relashionships with their families. The prevailing fanon consensus seems to be that of depicting Duke seamlessly integrating into the Batfamily, overlooking his commitment to his living parents and his intention to reunite with them. For Duke, identifying as a member of the Batfamily feels like forsaking his existing family ties. "It's only temporary" he tells Bruce in Batman and The Signal (2018), and means it. Similarly, Damian's allegiance leans more towards the Al Ghuls than it does the Waynes. It's a very complex overall situation wherein which he sometimes prioritizes his relationship with the Al Ghuls, and others his Wayne lineage.

[hobbinch]

Im doing so good at just staying over here with my dislike of Hazb1n Hotel but nearly every single thing I learn about it justifies my haterdom to myself

[frostise]

𝐍𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐒

bold for always, italics for sometimes, strikethrough never.

aggressive | arrogant | authoritarian | bitter | brutal | callous | careless | cold/cold-hearted | compulsive | controlling | corrects others constantly | cowardly | critical | cruel | delusional | demanding | disillusioned | domineering | envious | emotionally stunted | greedy | grim | guarded | hard | harsh | hypocritical | impatient | impolite | intimidating | irritable | kidnapper | lazy | liar | lustful | manipulative | materialistic | mean | merciless | messianic | mistrusting | murderer | narrow-minded | obsessive | opinionated | over-bearing | over-critical | over-emotional | over-thinking | patronizing | proud | remote | repressed | rigid | rules with an iron fist | ruthless | sarcastic | self-righteous | self-indulgent | serial killer | taciturn | torturer | touchy | traitorous | unsympathetic | unpredictable | uptight | vain | vengeful

tagged by: @cxpperhead (thank you!! ♡)

tagging: anyone who hasn't done this yet!!

[dirtytransmasc]

this was their reasoning for why Aemond having his eye cut out isn't deserving of the same anger as Alicent cutting Rhaenyra... I know this is a show about royalty and politics but for a single second can we view children as just children and not pawns in the grand royal/political scheme.

Aemond was a CHILD, can we just give a shit cause he was a child, cause he was maimed, could he be treated with the half decency of just being a kid deserving of at the VERY least an apology?

honestly my gears are grinding over calling Aemond, a child who was just permanently disabled and then asked to be tortured, the SPARE of all things.

[riddlertrophy]

loving gotham penguin but hating b22 penguin you will never see the light of heaven the deepest pits of hell will consume you